WINFIELD, AL – Growing up in a small southern town like Winfield, AL, there’s not a lot of musical diversity beyond country music. For someone like Hasten Langston, who loves hip-hop and rap, the work to establish himself as a legitimate hip-hop artist is a daily struggle. But his talents are such that he’s grown a loyal fan-base throughout the region, and he’s ready to take his music to a bigger stage.

“My parents both grew up very southern, and everybody here in my town is very much into country,” Langston said. “But I’ll be driving down the road blasting Kanye or something. I love all music, but I think hip-hop takes it from music to a lifestyle. I’ve always had talent with lyrics and I could always freestyle, but when I first started pursuing hip-hop as a career I didn’t have any real experience. It started off slow, but I worked extremely hard to put everything together. There aren’t many teachers or rappers in the area, so I just had to listen to the greats and study what they did. I even had to learn the equipment that goes with it. But mostly I would listen to WuTang or Dre – a lot of the old school artists – and just tried to put a lot of what they did into my music.”

Now, at age 18, Langston – who now goes by the rapper name Lucid, in honor of the dreams he feels like are beginning to become a reality – is ready to release his first Mixtape, entitled “Lucid Dreams the EP.” He’s already performed a couple of singles from the mixtape life at the Legend’s Sports Lounge in Birmingham, AL, which some pretty positive response. His sound – which includes a bit of a southern drawl in the midst of his rap – is so unique that it’s drawing an ever-growing fan-base.

To honor that fan-base, Lucid said he wants to make music that will inspire others during all times of their lives, but especially during the hardest times. He said a lot of his lyrics come from personal experiences and some of the toughest heartbreaks he’s encountered have made their way into song in ways that he hopes others will hear and be able to relate with.

“I want to be able to have a way to get my message and positive vibes out to people,” he said. “If there’s somebody having a bad day and one of my songs can reach them, that’s more important than any money I could make off a single. I know what it’s like to go through bad times. I recently went through a tough break-up and was feeling pretty depressed. I was a terribly sad person to be around, and I didn’t have a reason to want to do anything anymore. But it was a song by Logic that helped me out of that – a song that made me realize he’d been through some of the same things that were happening to me. I want my music to do the same thing for others.”

Those wishing to get a taste of Lucid’s music can see him perform live Aug. 3 at Saturn Birmingham in Birmingham, AL. He also performs every Monday at Legends Sports Lounge in Birmingham. He also has music available for download on Soundcloud, or fans can follow him on social media on Instagram and Twitter.